Coming soon--Last pattern designed for 2023

With the increased interest in barn quilts I was inspired to create this small square poinsettia quilt. This single block quilt pattern will contain 2 foundations. One is a simple 4 patch foundation that will be simple enough for the beginner paper piecer. The other foundation will be a skill builder and will have a Y seam construction. There are a couple of advantages to using a Y seam with this design. 1. Less fabric required. 2. Less piecing. 3. Less seam matching. 4. A neater, more polished looking block. Fortunately, Y seams are easy in foundation paper piecing because the 1/4" stopping and starting points are marked on the foundation itself! With that being said, there are also advantages to using the 4 patch foundation, such as being able to create an interesting layout by simply rotating the block segments. Here is one example:

Any questions or comments can be submitted to me directly at larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

What a year!

2023 started out pretty rocky and had it's share of difficulties but it also had quite a few high points. In an effort to be more positive moving forward I will focus on the high points! I had the opportunity to work with a new line of fabric from Timeless Treasures. It was a batik line called Honeycomb and my design appeared in their sales material that their sales reps used to get orders from quilt shops. This is the first time that I have ever done this so it was definitely a learning experience. One of the things I learned is that scans of fabric that haven't been produced yet may not be as accurate as you would hope. The fabric companies try as hard as they can to give designers what they need to design beautiful projects using their fabric but some things are out of their control. My quilt didn't turn out exactly as planned but I am still happy with the result. The first picture is the computer mockup and the second is how my quilt turned out.

I also found some time to update some of my older designs. I started designing over 20 years ago but it has always been more like a hobby until recently. My older designs have never really been marketed so this year I have been trying to get them to be seen more but I have learned a lot over these years and have made some improvements to these older designs and have republished them. My best selling design has always been my angel.The first angel design was published in 2014 and was used as a fundraiser after a tragic accident in which my friend lost her 7 year old daughter. When my friend no longer needed the donations I published the pattern for sale as Christmas Angel. When I switched to a new design program I went back and updated this design and it is now called Angel Blessings. This is my most recent sew out of this design.

Here are 2 pictures of my older designs that I have also updated this year.

I also had the opportunity to do a few designs for Island Batik but I am not allowed to talk about those yet, but if you go to their website and look at their Fall/Winter catalog, I think you can see one of my designs on page 100. My next 2 designs for them will not be published until sometime in 2024 but I will post about them as soon as I am allowed. I am hoping that whomever reads my blog has had a wonderful year full of love and success and hope that next year brings even more high points for all of us!